Patents Lawyers and Attorneys

Patent attorneys secure and enforce rights in inventions: patentability searches, drafting and prosecuting utility, design and plant applications before the USPTO, responding to office actions, appeals and post-grant proceedings, freedom-to-operate opinions, licensing and infringement litigation.

Prosecution requires a patent attorney or agent registered with the USPTO, which in turn requires a technical or scientific background. Litigation does not, but the two skill sets rarely sit in the same person.

Before you hire

• File before you disclose, sell or offer the invention. The United States operates on first-to-file, and a public disclosure can bar rights abroad outright.
• Match the attorney's technical field to the invention — electrical, mechanical, chemical, biotech and software each demand different backgrounds.
• Ask for the full cost picture: drafting, filing, expected office actions, issue and maintenance fees, and foreign filings if you need them.
• A provisional application buys twelve months, but only for what it actually describes.

See intellectual property and trademarks for the rest of the portfolio.